Israel lambasted the United Nations on Saturday after a key committee approved a draft resolution Friday calling on the International Court of Justice to urgently issue its opinion on the legal consequences of supposedly denying the Palestinian people the right to self-determination as a result of Israel's actions since the 1967 Six-Day War.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
The measure was vehemently opposed by Israel, which argued it would destroy any chance of reconciliation with the Palestinians.
"This step will not change the reality on the ground, nor will it help the Palestinian people in any way; it may even result in an escalation. Supporting this move is a prize for terrorist organizations and the campaign against Israel," Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement, adding that "the Palestinians want to replace negotiations with unilateral steps. They are again using the United Nations to attack Israel."
The vote in the General Assembly's Special Political and Decolonization Committee was 98-17, with 52 abstentions. The resolution will now go to the 193-member assembly for a final vote before the end of the year, when it is virtually certain of approval.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid:
"Israel strongly rejects the Palestinian resolution at the United Nations.This is another unilateral Palestinian move which undermines the basic principles for resolving the conflict and may harm any possibility for a future process.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 12, 2022
The draft cites Israel's supposed violation of Palestinian rights to self-determination "from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the holy city of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures."
It would ask the court for an opinion on how these Israeli policies and practices "affect the legal status of the occupation, and what are the legal consequences that arise for all states and the United Nations from this status."
The International Court of Justice, also known as the world court, is one of the UN's main organs and is charged with settling disputes between countries. Its opinions are not binding.
"Israel strongly rejects the Palestinian resolution at the United Nations. This is another unilateral Palestinian move which undermines the basic principles for resolving the conflict and may harm any possibility for a future process," Lapid tweeted and thanked that handful of countries that voted against the resolution with Israel. "We call upon on all the countries that supported yesterday's proposal to reconsider their position and oppose it when it's voted upon in the General Assembly. The way to resolve the conflict does not pass through the corridors of the UN or other international bodies," he continued.
This is not the first opinion sought from the court stemming from the nearly 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2004, the court said that a barrier Israel had built against terrorists was "contrary to international law."
The draft also demands Israel comply with the court's 2004 decision and stop construction of the wall, dismantle it, and make reparations for all damage caused by its construction, "which has gravely impacted the human rights" and living conditions of Palestinians.
The call for a new opinion was one of six Palestinian-related resolutions approved by the committee on Friday.
Before the vote, Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan told UN member nations they had a choice on whether to support negotiations or "to be an accomplice in destroying any hope for reconciliation" and perpetuating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He warned that "involving a judicial organ in a decades-old conflict only to dictate one side's demands on the other ensures many more years of stagnation."
"By co-opting the court," Erdan said, "the Palestinians are given the perfect excuse to continue boycotting the negotiating table to perpetuate the conflict."
After the vote, the Palestinian UN ambassador, Riyad Mansour, expressed gratitude to member states that approved all six resolutions and cited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' speech at the annual General Assembly in September that urged for the mobilizing of "all the components of our international law-based order, including international justice."
Mansour thanked the countries that supported the resolution and said that "nothing justifies standing with Israeli occupation and annexation, its displacement and dispossession of our people."
"Our people are entitled to freedom," he said. "This occupation will need to end."
"There will come a day, a day when our people will bring the flag of Palestine over the churches of Jerusalem and to the mosques of Jerusalem and Haram al-Sharif," Mansour added, referring to the Muslim name for the flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem's Old City that Israeli's refer to as the Temple Mount.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
